Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-10-14

ana go 1t was, and without extra nov
UT honor, except for the "roustabouts. u
VINO received double wages. Thev
were oil picked men, and as we'll fitch
1or that service as any white men. hit
the Colonel of artillery had ramn,ls,5
OF them: e' eniofAeo
I'd rather lose them than as MANY
volunteers if anything should happen. i
All war material, human or other
mas It's aassignable value when the ones.
no 1,on OF Its expenditure has to be raised.
Even commanding general knows
what regiment he can best afford to NO..
port as part of the price paid for q VIC
tory. The Colonel did not put anv as.
innate upon Randall or the old artil-
lefyman down in the hold of the barge
L lie latter was now hopping his fore
head with his bandana and SAVING 70
the arriving squad of "roustabouts :.
only couple of dozen more hovs
ana then we can get out of this oven.
LIS almost hot enough to fire asbarrel
OF gunpowder without any fuse or
match either" ~ "
Each in turn picked up and shout
dered the shell assigned to him and
wheeled toward the companionwav.
Randall, on the stern of the barge
with his pencil and tally-bool1 in his
hand, took due note of every man and
shell, but now and then seemed dis
posed to turn and stare for second or
so at the yellow flood which went swirl-
ing and eddying by.
IL could do "a no cold u;e
dent should happen, only there
wouldn't be any warning. First I'd
know [ shouldn't know anything"
At that moment long, lank, loose
ly built "roustabout" came up the mar
row stairway with cleaning tube of
copper and iron on his left shoulder.
"Thats the left-handed man from
Cairo" said Randall. His bones are
put together with strings. Hullo!" A
small, sharp nail had worked its way
out OF some ragged pocket, and had
fallen upon the deck, with its heel in a
crack aud its point so aimed that the
next forward step of the loose man
drove one of his bare, splay feet heay-
lily against it. There was a sharp veil
sudden forgetfulness of all the warn
lngs of the old artilleryman, and Ran
dali saw the shell pitched recklesslv
point forward, toward the deck of tie
barge.
He did not wait fcr it to strike.
Wheeling instantly, he sprang out.
with all his power, in swift headlone
dive, which carried him deep below the
rushing waters of the Mississippi. Be-
hind him, as he struck the surface,
rang sharp explosion, and then, with
short intervals whose seconds no man
counted, great column of flame and
blackness shot upward for q hundred
feet into the air, accompanied by vast
volume Of stunning sound--the voices
OF many detonations blended thunder
ously into one
Nearly minute later Randalls head
came out of the water many rods down
the river.
"They're all gone!" he exclaimed.
He was good swimmer, and an eddy
aided him to reach the bank. He hur-
rled to the spot where a yawning rift
in the side of the levee now marked
the landing-place OF the powder barge.
There was no other sign that any such
boat had ever been there, except the
long, cleaning rows of percussion
shells yet lying Just beyond the ridge.
Not one of them had been exploded by
the conclusion.
When the Colonel of artillery came
galloping up, half an hour later, Randall
touched his hat and pointed at the
shells on the levee.
Colonel, /" he said, shat is about all
the report I can make"
Il heard the other report" said the
Colonel, "and so did all Memphis. How
did you manage to escaped" That re-
port was also briefly made. II could
hear the explosion while l was under
the water. 1t Jared me all over, but
it didn't stun me-" Randall said.
The Colonel took off his hat and re-
marked with emphasis; "Now, that's
what | call presence Of !"-Chi-
cag0 Ledger.